I love the new museum building but think the apartment bocks are so out of place and ordinary. The museum is diferent and an individual iconic design that once built will be appreciated more. The apartments are such a waste of the site. The only good thing about them is the use of contrasting materials in relation to the '3 graces'. People who ask for buildings using the same materials don't seem to get the fact that this would actually detract from the 4 buildings by blending them in with obviously boring new pastiche rubbish. Modern iconic buildings are required for sites like this to make both the new build and the old stand on their own merits.. The housing trust building on commutation row is a perfect example of a boring post modern/pastiche piece of boring building that is a waste of a prime city site. You do not get people in Berlin or Barcelon asking for pastiche buildings to fit in with surroundings and the cities are the better for it.

I love the new museum building but think the apartment bocks are so out of place and ordinary. The museum is diferent and an individual iconic design that once built will be appreciated more. The apartments are such a waste of the site. The only good thing about them is the use of contrasting materials in relation to the '3 graces'. People who ask for buildings using the same materials don't seem to get the fact that this would actually detract from the 4 buildings by blending them in with obviously boring new pastiche rubbish. Modern iconic buildings are required for sites like this to make both the new build and the old stand on their own merits.. The housing trust building on commutation row is a perfect example of a boring post modern/pastiche piece of boring building that is a waste of a prime city site. You do not get people in Berlin or Barcelon asking for pastiche buildings to fit in with surroundings and the cities are the better for it.

I posted below on another thread - relevant here. The museum can stay, but why not excavate the Dock and basin or even just one of them, as the canal runs through them anyway. Too easy is isn't it. The Pier Head is a dead space. A poor public space. The water will add value and history.

Excavating Manchester Dock & Chester Basin?

The Canal Link actually runs through the in-filled Chester Basin and Manchester Dock, north of the Canning Graving Docks. The basin and dock are still there underground complete with granite quays. Common sense would dictate fully excavating the basin and if possible the adjacent Manchester Dock too, which had a river lock. The location of the lock position is visible from the river wall at the Canning Dock. Archaeologists are to dig out much of the dock and basin. Leaving the water spaces uncovered and refilled with water would be the most appropriate action. These docks are over 220 years old. The canal could run right through Chester Basin giving berths for canal boats and adding to the charm of the Pier Head.

Any sensible developer would want to reinstate these small historic water spaces, as they would add value to their projects and gain public acceptability.

Below: Manchester Dock and Chester Basin are to the south west of the Dock Board Office at the Pier Head.

Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
becomes a Venice without canals, just another city, no
longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
tourist. Would we visit a modernised Venice of filled in
canals to view its modern museum describing
how it once was?

WaterWays, what have you done to us all? I've been reading up on the Old Dock now filled in beneath the Paradise Street developemnt area and am gutted what we have lost.

Parts of the Old Dock were dug up recently. The quays are still there. The quays were poor as they were made of local sandstone and brick. One reason for filling in was the poor state of the quays as they were around 100 years old at the time.

Only a park was over it. It could have been dug out and re-instated and put to original condition complete with locks and bridge. Take away the Dock Rd and connect the Old Docks back onto the Dock network and what an environment. Too easy isn't it?
Have a look. Interesting:http://www.oau-oxford.com/html_pages/maritime_trade.htm

Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
becomes a Venice without canals, just another city, no
longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
tourist. Would we visit a modernised Venice of filled in
canals to view its modern museum describing
how it once was?

I agree mate, would be ridiculous to build a museum of LIVERPOOL LIFE and ignore the history underneath or around it. If they are excavating the dock anyway, it surely makes sense to do as you say and use it as a feature and part of the new canal link which will only enhance the new building.
As for the old dock on the site of the pool, I raed that part of it is being used as a water feature in the park and some of the excavated walls/queys will be left visable and form a display with interactive info etc explaining the history of the site,- pool-dock-customs house etc.

The shanty 'blow the man down' comes from the are of the original dock doesn't it? 'As I was walking down Paradise street........' The warehouses behind Paradise street and around Lydia Anne street etc are all from this era I seem to remember. Hopefully Grosvenor have retsored the ones they said they would behind the old radio merseyside building, Shame they demolished what was one of the oldest houses in the area facing Gostins building next to the old Academy/Planet x. Still had the early Georgian box sash windows as well.

I agree that the docks and quays where possible should be reinstated, there's enough land and brownfield sites crying out for apartment blocks and the like (eg. all that wasteland on Tithebarn st next to the Railway pub looks an eyesore)

The black granite should be changed to white to fit in with the rest of the area as they just look like Steers house has been reshaped and shifted over there. I don't mind the quirky shapes actually, just that the height doesn't obscure the Port of Liverpool building.

I can't wait for the new museum of Liverpool life and hope that they don't let us down with the floorspace and contents.

Why does everyone get so misty eyed over old docks?
All they are are large holes surrounded by retaining walls to keep in water.
I think too many people look back with rose tinted spectacles at the days of shipping - I worked on the docks for years and it was hard graft in a filthy environment for bog standard wages.
They won't find any dinosaurs buried there or anything else of real interest - just the detritus of an dirty industry.

Waterways is very informative about dock matters, I think the best way to treat him is ignore him when he starts acting up, that is what I did, no replies to his nonsense. He was in a lot of ways an asset to this forum. I think he should be allowed back if he will quit calling people nasty names.

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
Winston Churchill

Waterways is very informative about dock matters, I think the best way to treat him is ignore him when he starts acting up, that is what I did, no replies to his nonsense. He was in a lot of ways an asset to this forum. I think he should be allowed back if he will quit calling people nasty names.

Mr Waterways can call me all the names under the sun and I think he should still be allowed back. He adds far more to this forum than he takes away, IMHO.

Waterways is very informative about dock matters, I think the best way to treat him is ignore him when he starts acting up, that is what I did, no replies to his nonsense. He was in a lot of ways an asset to this forum. I think he should be allowed back if he will quit calling people nasty names.

But when some people think they're indispensable, they also think they're much better than us mere mortals, and they can be extremely cruel, which must make the poor victims just quietly leave the forum.

But when some people think they're indispensable, they also think they're much better than us mere mortals, and they can be extremely cruel, which must make the poor victims just quietly leave the forum.

Some truth in that too.

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
Winston Churchill

But when some people think they're indispensable, they also think they're much better than us mere mortals, and they can be extremely cruel, which must make the poor victims just quietly leave the forum.

Fair enough.
Missed the terrible side of him, saw bits of the 'bad' side though. Said it before, in fact I also said it to him, that it was a big shame how he couldn't just lighten up his act a bit. A shame because a lot of his contributions were excellent.

He made me laugh on more than a couple of occaisions the cudmugeonly old sod.
"The colour of Liverpool is green, and green it stays." !!!!!!!!!

This little ramp was installed in the last few days...I'm guessing to stop people from getting their feet wet at full tide (sometimes the gates at either end of the Riverside Walk are closed when the river gets dangerous).

2001?

Does the design not remind anyone of the film 2001?
I had to check it wasn't April 1st when i saw pictures of this scheme.
I can't think of a worse solution to building on this site. Blank, soulless, faceless slabs that only detract from the existing architecture.